Scion - Before the Dawn

Chapter 3: Following leads, and finding zombies

16

OCT/12

Chapter 3:

The party are shocked by the surprise attack on the street, and rush into the building to find their attacker. It’s a City of London University building, and whilst Alan attempts to charm the receptionist into believing that he is a visiting lecturer and Connor is his sound engineer, the rest of the group sneak into the corridor nearby. Chelsea works out which room he ran through, and by the time Leon has picked up the trail, Alan and Connor have rejoined the group.
Leon and Connor track the man into a nearby lecture hall; Connor breaks the door handle trying to pick the lock, and so Eddie turns the door into splinters.
Chelsea is scared by the sudden noise, and hides in a lectern – Leon is the only one who notices her do so,
Connor and Leon realise that the man has run straight through the lecture hall, through the wall and into another building. They decide it’s time to move on. As they collect Chelsea and start to leave, there’s a scream from the doorway – the receptionist has seen the damage they’ve caused. She runs.
When the party reaches the reception, she is on the phone to the police. Connor cuts the phone cord, and she tries to hide under the desk. When Connor is unable to calm her down, Chelsea shoots her with a tranquilizer dart. Leon leaves a note of apology and some money to cover the cost of the door.

The group head out into the street, and then into the Library. Billy is at the front desk, and he hands them a note from The Archivist, saying that she’s having a bad day and can’t talk to visitors. The note is an address of the shop on Portobello Road that the original contact had obtained the Book from.

When the party reach the shop – Andrews Antiques – they are greeted by a young shop assistant. She is happy to help them, and gives them the name of the auction house where they purchased the Book. She then turns, and on seeing Eddie, starts panicking, saying that he’s bleeding from his arms. She tries to bandage him.
Leon possesses her briefly, confirming that she is indeed seeing blood pouring from Eddie’s scars. Connor, believing she has the Sight, touches her, breathing out cold air, and suddenly the whole party can see Jonny (Connor’s spirit guide). Upon seeing him, the shop assistant (Alison) faints.
Alan leaves the shop, and calls his contact – Miss Sandra Songarsson. She tells him that the auction house – The Peacock Rooms – are holding an auction the next day, and that she’ll try to get him a seat.
Inside, the shop owner runs down the stairs, demanding to know what’s going on. Chelsea tries to shoot him with a Truth dart, but unfortunately hits him with a mild mind-altering seed instead. He starts giggling. Chelsea leaves the shop.
Whilst Connor and Eddie are distracted with the unconscious Alison, Leon notices something strange about Andrews. Leaning closer, he sees the shop owner’s eyes go from dilated to pinpoints, and a raspy voice comes from his throat. It addresses Leon as ‘The son of Shango’, and tells him to visit Mamalwe, as she can tell them what’s going on. The voice laughs, and tells Leon that it’s a family affair.
Eddie leaves a note saying sorry.

The party head towards Mamalwe’s flat, which is in a block of flats a few streets away. The outside of the building is covered in graffiti, but Mamalwe’s front door is spotless, with lovely window boxes of flowers. Connor notices fetishes tucked in amongst the flowers.
Eddie knocks, and when there’s no reply, calls through the post box. He hears a thump and a muffled scream, and so punches the door into splinters and rushes in.
Everyone else follows (though Chelsea hangs behind, and Connor is at the other end of the block of flats), and they burst into the sitting room. There are three tall cloaked figures by the door, and at the back of the room is a chair with an old woman tied to it, and a young man that looks a little like the first attacker holding his hand over her face.
Eddie punches the first mysterious figure, ripping its cloak and jaw off. It appears to be a dried out corpse, and probably a zombie. Eddie quickly punches its head into pieces. Leon slices open the chest of another, but when he tries to athletically tackle the guy at the back, misses and falls to the floor. The man shouts something in an unfamiliar language at the zombies, and they attack with renewed vigour Alan shoots the guy, burning a substantial hole through his chest. As Eddie punches the last zombie’s head off, Alan stalks towards the man, changing his appearance to Terrible, and pulling out his two-handed hammer and swinging it nonchalantly. The man screams and pulls his own dagger, plunging it into his gut.
Chelsea runs forward, and tries to stabilise the man. With blood gushing from his mouth, he says that Beauregarde sent him to question Mamalwe as ‘she knows’. That’s all the party need to hear, and they leave him to finish dying.
Leon has taken Mamalwe into the kitchen and poured her some rum. Though she appears very shaken, she tells the group that Beauregarde was her protege. Mamalwe had heard rumours that the Book was in London, and had tried to buy it from the shop but was too late. She says that the other two items – a Bell and a Candle – were probably still with the original sellers, as she had heard no rumours of them being sold. She says that it’s a family affair.
After making sure that Mamalwe is okay – she calls her grandsons to come and take care of her – the group leave (Chelsea Green Thumb’s a plant, and gives it to Mamalwe as a gift).

Once back at the house, the group pursue some personal projects. Leon goes for a run. Alan starts sourcing some crafting materials. Chelsea starts growing some specific plants. Eddie goes on a date with his girlfriend, Annie. Connor sends a text to his ex-girlfriend, Sigrun.